After reading "The Mysterious Giant of Barletta" by Tomie DePaola, about an ancient Roman statue that comes to life, students create a paper sculpture based on ancient Greek and Roman statues in the Getty Museum. They then write a narrative story told from the viewpoint of their sculpture.

Students will understand the use of personification as a way of expressing ideals. Students will transfer this understanding to the present by creating an allegorical depiction of a contemporary ideal or value inspired by precedents in classical Greece and the Neoclassical period.

Students will observe a watercolor painting that depicts a view of a landmark in a dramatic setting -- "Longships Lighthouse, Lands End" by artist Joseph Mallord William Turner. Then they will experiment with a variety of techniques to create a dramatic setting, such as the scene depicted in Turner's historical narrative watercolor painting. Students will then create their own watercolor of an accident at a landmark using various watercolor techniques.

Students discuss how the environment influences animal characteristics by looking at Hans Hoffmann's painting "A Hare In the Forest". After the discussion, students research an animal that uses camouflage, paint that animal within its environment, and write a sentence describing its habitat. Students use this as a basis on which to write a sequential narrative about their animal and its relationship to its environment. This lesson is an extension to the "Open Court Reader" second grade unit on animal camouflage called "Look Again."

Note: This lesson was designed for students with autism. The students will review a few elements of art, specifically colors, shapes, and different types of lines. They will identify these elements in Vincent van Gogh's painting Irises. The students will then practice drawing different types of lines and shapes in different colors, and will use these elements of art to produce an original crayon-resist piece inspired by Irises.

Students will observe emotions depicted in an 18th-century bust and two 19th-century paintings. They will learn about and create similes based on paintings that depict people waiting and receiving a court verdict, respectively. They will write their own narratives about a time they had to wait, and they will use similes to describe characters' emotions. Students will then create two original works of art that illustrate their narratives.

Students study how Dorothea Lange tells stories related to children. They practice telling their own written and visual stories in response to Lange's images.

Students will create a drawing from a written description and examine and discuss how European artists from the past created images of China that combined imagination with written descriptions and limited visual imagery.

Students will consider the challenges of life as an adolescent working in Paris in the late 1800s by analyzing a series of works of art. They will compare the vocations depicted in the artworks with those they might encounter in 21st-century Los Angeles.

Students compare and contrast a photograph and a photo-collage depicting the same highway and write a descriptive composition of both images. They identify one-point perspective in works of art then draw a desert landscape using one-point perspective.

Like Junie B. Jones, students will be saying "Wait till you hear this" after listening to a Junie B. story and creating mystery boxes to help retell the story.

The series of knitting lessons that follow can be adapted for students from about third or fourth grade all the way through high school, and will fully engage students of widely varying abilities.

Students will read and compare excerpts from "The Odyssey" and "The Adventures of Telemachus". They will create an original story based on a secondary character from "The Odyssey" as well as a sketch of one of the pivotal scenes from the story.

Students will analyze the form and function of a table made in the 1700s. They will appropriate elements from a preexisting work of art to create a new work of art that reflects the students' identity.

Students will study a French cabinet and research and discuss its symbols. Students will then create their own marquetry design based on an animal symbol from another country.

Students will examine a medieval manuscript on astronomy and create their own books based on modern discoveries in astronomy.

Students will examine a manuscript page from a Flemish bestiary and discuss how it was used to teach ideas about Christianity. Students will then compare the stories from the bestiary to the fables of Aesop, and culminate with the creation of their own manuscript based on a fable by Aesop.

Students will think about a dramatic moment in their lives and imagine how to translate it into a work of art.

Students will examine artworks, research literature, and create study drawings and a 3-D model for a monument to a literary figure.